It’s spring: tips to declutter your way to a happy home

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • April 2023

It’s spring. A time to clear some space for growth and new possibilities.

Clutter stresses us out and makes us tired. Yet, to get past the stress, most people go out and buy more and try to figure out what to do with all of it.

The average home contains 300,000 items or more. The bottom line: we have too much stuff.

Surround yourself with what you love with mindful and intentional planning of what you allow to take up space in your home. Collections and accessories should be a reflection of the homeowner and should bring you joy. Shown against the backdrop of Thibaut’s Point Lobos brown and teal wallcovering from the Natural Resource Collection. Photo: Thibaut.

We read a lot about living a minimalist life. You can call it downsizing. Decluttering. Living with less. Intentional living. And other terms that are just part of the solution. But what it comes down to is letting go of what is not necessary. It’s about being mindful of what you bring into your home.

If you feel like your happy space has become a storage unit for items that you don’t even like anymore, can’t remember where they came from and the problem seems to be getting worse, it may be time for an evaluation of what you are doing. In other words: time to stop the madness.

It can be done. You can start today. Keep reading.

As a Southwest Florida interior decorator, I work with many homeowners who ask for help in deciding what stays and what goes before redoing their homes. It’s not an easy decision. That’s why they call in an impartial person without an emotional attachment to their possessions. I consider it working toward designing a simpler life. Gaining more space that allows you to focus on what’s really important.

Declutter for spring by removing appliances and accessories from the countertops allowing for a clean and spacious look in the kitchen. Shown is Cambria’s Clovelly design with copper and brown swirling veins. Photo: Cambria.

Where do you start? By looking at what you have and working from there to make careful decisions about purchases. Deciding what no longer serves you. Finding contentment with what you have. Letting go of what you don’t need. Thinking carefully about what you buy.

By gaining some control over what stays and what comes into your home, there are instant results. More free time. Less stress. Less worry about how much you are spending. Mindful spending means more $$$ to do something you love.

When it comes to your home décor, there are many small ways to begin to take a more purposeful approach. Pick a couple and give it a try. I think you will like the result. These suggestions go from easy to a little more difficult. All worth the effort.

• Clarify your decorating. Eliminate what you don’t love. Only shop for what you need.

• Delete duplicate items. A good place to begin with this one is your kitchen drawers. And then move on to your closet.

• Clear some surface space: kitchen island, tabletop, shelves. Prioritize what you put out. Make sure it’s what means the most to you. While doing this step, please say goodbye to those dusty fake plants above the kitchen cabinets. Thank you.

• Toss old magazines. You are never going to read the again. Same for stacks of books. Donate them to a library or used book store.

• Pick things up off the floor. Put kitchen appliances in cabinets or drawers.

• Before you make a purchase, decide what you are going to get rid of. Furniture, clothes, accessories.

• Get over guilt. When it comes to your home, it’s all about you and not about storing gifts that you never wanted. The same for items from well-meaning relatives. If they are not working, say goodbye and donate them. Do not let your home become a storage unit for the memories of others.

• Don’t make anyone else feel guilty. Your kids do not want your stuff so clear out what you have been holding on to. Do it today and make the space yours.

• We can’t have it all. Check out your collections and ask yourself if they still work for you. There is no harm in admitting that they no longer serve you. That box of tapes that you will likely never play is just taking up space. And you have no obligation to keep every collectible that you have ever purchased. Our tastes change.

• Ask yourself: is it functional OR do you love it? If the answer is not yes, it’s time to say goodbye. And move on to a more mindful home filled with what is meaningful.

• Instead of stuff, reevaluate your decorating plan with color. Use soothing whites and creams as neutrals and then accent with bright tones. Having less does not mean being boring. Quite the opposite.

When decluttering and creating space at home, carefully consider furnishings, accessories and the use of color. Shown: Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue. Photo: Benjamin Moore.

Living more mindfully is not easy. Emotional attachments are the most difficult to eliminate. If saying goodbye to something causes too much stress, keep it. I will never be a minimalist. I love to surround myself with what makes me happy. But on a regular basis, I declutter. It’s amazing what we carry into our homes and things just live there. They take up residency and we forget about them. Let today be the day you reclaim your home and make it your happy sanctuary. Go clean out a drawer or a closet! Then buy some fresh flowers and welcome spring!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solve decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information, visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit her blog at spectacularspaces.com/blog

Creating comfort at home for fall

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press • Oct. 3, 2020

Let’s face it: the last two seasons, spring and summer, took away a lot of our comfort and security. Fall weather is right around the corner and offers a chance to bring a few positive changes into our homes. A chance to create some comfort in stressful times.

We don’t really have seasons in Florida. And that’s okay with most of us who came here from someplace else, fleeing cold weather. As a matter of fact, if it were not for the Publix cinnamon brooms that appear in September, we might not even know that there is a change. But the truth is that even in our year-round tropical paradise where there is little change in the weather, fall brings a noticeable shift. And that’s a healthy thing.

This is when I think of growing up in Virginia and going to college in North Carolina. Fall was beautiful with cool breezes, football games, homecoming, friends and the excitement of the beginning of another college year. I remember walking to classes and just taking in “fall.” I felt such a sense of place those fall seasons and it has stayed with me all these years. Fall is a very nostalgic time.

Unlike the rest of the country, the slight drop in temperature has most of us heading for the beach, sprucing up our lanais for the season and getting outdoors more. As a Fort Myers interior decorator, I can tell you that I (along with most of my clients) like to make a few subtle changes in my home to honor the arrival of fall. Or as I call it, celebrating the end of a long, hot summer. Most of these changes cost very little and you can buy much of what you need from the grocery store or order online without major shopping trips. A few of my favorites:

A light decluttering

Since we have been at home so much, things have piled up! Do a little fall decluttering and organizing. Focus on finding some clear surface spaces and eliminating what you no longer need. And while you are at it, toss your old spices and refresh with new ones. The change in seasons is also a perfect time to invest in new linens, towels, throws, blankets. All just in time for the holidays.

Create the feeling

Start at the front door with a new doormat. My favorite is “hello pumpkin,” which can be found online. One of my clients paints her front door each fall and spring. To keep things interesting. Some favorite front door colors for fall: Benjamin Moore’s Hawthorne Yellow, Autumn Leaf and Fiesta Orange. Add a wreath to the door, a few pumpkins (faux in Florida), potted plants and lanterns and you are set.

Benjamin Moore’s Hawthorne Yellow. Photo: Benjamin Moore

Spicy hues or not

If the oranges, browns and yellows are just not your palette, that’s fine. Any color found in nature says fall. Rich cranberry burgundy, blueberry, sunflower yellows, bright greens…all work for fall and are a nice change when mixed with our more coastal palettes.

And as for pumpkins, they come in all colors. Blues, white, even pink. I like to mix them up.

Create a tablescape

For your dining table, coffee table or the end of a kitchen island. Mine this year is a mix of white pumpkins, striped pumpkins and a bag of gourds from the grocery store. Some yellow mums, corn and candles. Very simple.

Set the dining table

If Halloween is more your thing than fall, that could be the theme. In either case, add some seasonal placemats and napkins, add a center piece. Design special themed place cards for each member of the family. Put a few fall or Halloween treats at each plate. Make it a little special since there are going to be fewer activities this year.

Set a pretty table with faux pumpkins and fall elements from www.potterybarn.com. Photo: Pottery Barn.

Entry table

One of my favorites is to fill a dough bowl with elements of the season: potpourri, acorns, colored leaves, gourds and even a few twinkling lights. Change out the content each season or just for fun.

Change your scents to fall

Bring fall into your space before it even arrives with yummy scents: Fall in a Jar, Fresh Fall Morning, White Pumpkin, Leaves, Apple Weather and lots of others from Bath & Body.

Mix creamy neutrals with seasonal hues

Change your fireplace mantel with creamy neutrals accented with seasonal tones, gourds, pumpkins, leaves, baskets, accents.

Welcome fall!

On the first cool morning: open all of the windows and let the fresh air into your home. Take a deep breath and enjoy a new season that brings renewed hope.

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

Spring: bring some joy into your home!

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press • March 2, 2019

Spring. It arrives on March 20.

Even though our seasons seem to all run together in Southwest Florida, there’s something about acknowledging spring’s arrival that seems normal and healthy. This is the time of year when most of us look around our homes to make a few changes. A refresh. A reboot. To mark a new season. Subtle touches. A time to welcome the joy that spring brings.

As a Southwest Florida interior decorator, I have a few simple (but impactful) spring rituals that I like to implement each year and I always encourage my clients to do the same. Some are free and you can start them when you finish this article.

Layer a beautiful table with a few new touches for spring such as these bundles of tulips in glass vases and pastel blown glass eggs filled with strings of lights or votive candles. Shown: rustic, industrial-styled Benchwright dining table. Photo: Pottery Barn

Clean and declutter. Really clean. Windows. Floors. A get-into-the-corners, sparkling spring cleaning.

Touch up. You don’t need to (necessarily) paint an entire room but touch up some scuffs and paint your baseboards to give your rooms a fresh look.

Flowers. Pamper yourself and say hello to spring with a beautiful bouquet in the kitchen, bedroom and bath.

Less is more. Spring is a good time to do what I like to call reduction decorating. Instead of buying more, put a few things away. Clear off some surface space. Maybe store a couple of pieces of furniture (you know you have too much). Give your space room to breathe. You can bring it back out in the fall.

Pillow switch. Breathe some new life into your room with new throw pillows. I admit that I am a pillow addict. I never met a pillow I could resist. I hoard them, hide them away and switch out my sofa and bedroom pillows like most people change shoes. Honestly, it’s the easiest way to put a little spring in your home.

Give your living room sofa a new look with a few spring pillows that become the focal point of the room. Always select a couple of solid colors to mix with patterns and flowers. Shown: Townsend sofa with reversible storage. Photo: Pottery Barn

Evaluate what you have. If you don’t love it, why keep it? Say goodbye to it and donate or sell it.

Add some new scents. Diffusers, candles or potpourri.

Open the windows. Let some fresh air in. Soon enough we will be into summer and will everything closed up again!

Redo a room. My favorite and least expensive, a powder room. Paint or wallpaper an outrageously gorgeous color. Redo the lighting and accessories. OR buy fresh linens and a new comforter for a bedroom. A new piece of art or rug. A new set of lamps for the nightstands.

Call a professional. Spring is also a good time to think about changes that you want to make in your home. If you have been struggling with what to do, maybe it’s time to call in an interior design professional to assist you in taking taken on a new project or to come up with a plan that you can implement on your own.

A little splurge. And it doesn’t have to cost a lot. Add a few spring colors to your dining table with some fresh napkins, place mats or accent dishes. I like to leave the center of my table up all the time and change it seasonally.

Welcome spring. Add a new welcome mat at the front door and purchase a colorful flag.

Whatever you do, enjoy decorating for spring and make it fun!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and certified gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her article appears the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog